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Study says dogs can sniff out certain cancers

Researchers hope canines could help diagnose cancers in their early stages, avoiding some other invasive methods.

22 May 2015 21:51 GMT

Researchers in Italy have found that dogs can detect a number of cancers with a success rate of 90 percent.

Al Jazeera's Emma Hayward said the dogs were being trained to identify odours associated with cancer in urine samples.

"Researchers hope this method could help diagnose cancers in their early stages - avoiding some other invasive methods of screening," our correspondent said.

More research is now set to be carried out.

"Once we've got that evidence that we can screen thousands of samples reliably, then we could offer something tangible to the medical profession," said Dr Claire Guest, co-founder of the Medical Detection Dogs Charity.

Watch the video above for Al Jazeera correspondent Emma Hayward's story on the super canines